Thursday, December 03, 2009

Dr. Oz Redeems Himself!

I just finished watching the new CFS segment on the Dr. Oz Show, featuring Dr. Donnica Moore. Hurray! They finally got it right (mostly). He started with an in-depth look at the newly discovered XMRV virus - I even learned a few things! Then, he interviewed Dr. Donnica (as she's known) with in-depth questions about CFS symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment which she answered perfectly. Besides being a women's health expert, Dr. Donnica has a son Jamie's age with CFS, so she understands it first-hand.

My one concern with the show was Dr. Oz's parting words (which Dr. Donnica didn't have a chance to respond to). He ended the segment by saying how important it is for people with CFS to exercise, even if they feel like they can't! I was yelling at the TV, "No! No! Let Donnica talk!" Oh, well. It was one minor complaint in an otherwise perfect segment. Dr. Oz even had another guest on, a woman with severe CFS who tested positive for XMRV in the initial study, providing a personal view of what it's like to live with CFS and to have doctors doubt you. Also, Dr. Donnica made sure to explain the difference between CFS and chronic fatigue, which was one of the key problems with his last segment.

All in all, it was great coverage of CFS. Even better, he has posted a 2-page article by Dr. Donnica on his website that provides explicit, accurate details on diagnosing and treating CFS - including proper guidance on MILD exercise.

On an amusing note, the CFS segment was followed by a segment on "kicking the salt habit," of which, of course, people with CFS need LOTS! Let's hope everyone with CFS turned the TV off after the CFS segment!

It looks like Dr. Oz listened to the letters we sent on his last CFS segment! If you'd like to tell him he got it right this time and thank him (positive reinforcement!), you can use this contact form on the Dr. Oz website. I'm going to go do this now.

P.S. Things are looking up here at our house. Jamie went back to school today. I made it to my book group last night AND out to dinner with a good friend. I'm a bit worn out today but not too bad - trying to take it easy and rest.

Overall, I thought the program was a big plus for us. That said, I'm not sure Dr. Oz ever understood CFS (as his parting comment showed) and, never having seen his show before yesterday, I found its tenor a bit disturbing in that he seems to have that "scare me to death" demeanor of so many cable news people as if he gets people to watch by making them worry that they may have this or that illness. I saw this approach in show earlier in the day too (the one I thought was about CFS but turned out to be Diabetes). If a person were a hypochondriac, his show would sure feed his or her fears! But that's just my opinion and I digress.

The good news is that the show definitely communicated the seriousness of the illness and you could see that his guest, Gina, was very sick. My husband watched with me and said: People will come away from this with a different view of CFS. They may not remember XMRV, but they'll be thinking "CFS -- virus."

Very interesting comments, Toni. My husband also watched the segment last night on video and had some similar observations. he thought that Dr. Oz really sensationalized the XMRV news with his opening comments, like "this virus could be lurking in any of us!", etc. and also noticed that in one of the pre-commercial promos, he promised to tell the audience "how to avoid getting chronic fatigue syndrome" - which would have been a good one, huh?

All in all, though, we agreed that his sensationalism can only help CFS - the more people that are aware of it - and even afraid of it! - the better, right?

I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS or CFIDS) since March 2002. My 19-year old and 16-year old sons also have CFS, and my older son also has Lyme disease plus two other tick infections. This blog is about how our family is learning to live with chronic illness, with a focus on living and enjoying our lives in spite of these challenges.